Lautoka lockdown to ease, COVID-19 cases reach 14

Residents in Lautoka can expect relaxed border restrictions soon as Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama confirmed Fiji’s 14th corona virus case yesterday. Picture: Fijian Government Facebook Page

By BRIAN LEZUTUNI

The city of Lautoka is expected to come out of an 18-day lockdown as Fiji’s corona virus (COVID-19) cases rose to 14 overnight.

Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama yesterday announced the relaxation to border restrictions within the greater Lautoka area, however, adding that a possible case being tested within the city overnight could result in a newly confined area demarcated within the Sugar City.

The two new cases include patient 13, the wife of the man from Labasa who had travelled to India. The other is the sister of Fiji’s first case, the flight attendant, and is also the mother of the one-year-old child who contracted the virus earlier.

Mr Bainimarama said from fever testing within Lautoka, they had identified a man who was not only displaying symptoms but also had a recent travel history, which he allegedly hid from officials.

He confirmed that the person had smuggled himself into the confinement area after arriving from Uruguay on March 24, transiting through Singapore.

“Now that he is showing symptoms our contact tracing teams are determining how many Fijians he may have put at risk,” Mr Bainimarama said.

He said following the result of tests on the person, a new confined area would be announced within Lautoka based on this person’s movements.

He thanked people within and outside of the Lautoka confined areas who followed proper procedures during the duration of the lockdown.

“Your patience and diligence have helped us effectively trace and isolate cases, by staying inside and playing by the rules,” he said.

Meanwhile, The University of the South Pacific campuses remain closed as respective regional governments enforced national protocols in response to tackling and abetting the introduction and increase in cases of COVID-19 in their countries.

Following the Fijian Government’s announcement of restrictions in Suva, the USP Disaster Management Committee (DISMAC) announced that the University’s mid semester break for all its students had been extended up to Friday April 17.

Currently, Laucala campus is at level three of the USP COVID-19 Pandemic Management Plan and only essential staff not affected by the lockdown will be required to be physically present on campus. Students living off campus are also not allowed to enter while movements in and out of USP have been strictly monitored.

The USP campus in Alafua, Samoa could expect further lockdown as Samoa’s Government extended its state of emergency in response to Covid-19 for another month until May 2.

A renewed one-week lockdown was also announced for Tonga as well as the extension of a travel advisory for the Republic of Marshall Islands for a further month.

*Brian Lezutuni (Solomon Islands) is a final-year journalism student at USP’s Laucala campus. He is also the deputy editor for Wansolwara, USP Journalism’s student training newspaper and online publication.